Chapter 1438: Chapter 534: Lotus Graveyard (Part 3)
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The coffin lids were finally unable to withstand the force, the nails joining the lids and coffin bodies popped one after another,
and then, over a hundred coffin lids flew up like clouds hanging in the air, pausing mid-air,
the hundreds of coffin lids became small isolated islands in the boundless sky. Old Cat was even more impressed this time, bowing repeatedly to Zhou Xuan.
"Such mastery of Incense Power, to manipulate inanimate objects with such Divine Skills."
Zhao Wuya also ascended, looking towards the coffins, which were indeed filled with many jewels, shining under the Fierce Sun’s rays.
Apart from the gold and silver, even more eye-catching were the skeletons inside the coffins.
Some skeletons looked no different from normal people, but some lacked two legs; under some skeletons’ bellies, there was a small pile of bones, those of an infant.
"Brother Xuan, there’s something about these coffins, some of them belong to disabled people and pregnant women."
Zhou Xuan looked to the sky, smiling: "Ya Zi, if I’m not mistaken, all these skeletons belonged to disabled people, it’s just that some disabilities aren’t apparent from the bones alone.
In the Lotus Temple, six kinds of people are forbidden to enter the mountain for worship—cripples, the blind, fools, madmen, the deaf, and pregnant women,
among them, the blind, fools, madmen, and the deaf turned to White Bone, you can’t tell their disabilities from their bones alone."
"Why are there so many disabled people in this graveyard?"
Zhao Wuya descended, asking Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan, still looking at the coffin lids in the sky, said: "When these people entered the mountain, they were not dead."
"How did you see that?" Zhao Wuya asked.
Zhou Xuan pointed to the sky and said: "Look for yourself and you’ll see."
Zhao Wuya looked up sharply, only to realize that all the inner walls of the lids had scratch marks, surrounded by traces of blood.
"These are the marks of living fingers scratching." Zhao Wuya took a deep breath.
Zhou Xuan nodded and said: "All the deceased here were forcibly sealed in the coffins and sent into the Lotus Mountain,
they, ninety-nine percent, were offerings from the Yanfutai Buddha Mother to Venerables like the Hundred-eyed Child, for making Mola Fruit."
This graveyard is not really a graveyard, but the dining hall of the Hundred-eyed Child.
"The Mola Fruit, said to be from the Tian Can people, now it seems, these Tian Can people must endure some cruel rituals to turn them into Mola Fruits."
Zhou Xuan said this and walked up to Old Cat.
The Old Cat had heard the conversation between Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya, realizing now that everyone in these coffins had been alive when buried.
He trembled like a sieve, his body shaking uncontrollably, repeatedly saying: "Immortal Master, with your discernment, we three are just ordinary Tomb Guardians, the killings here have nothing to do with us."
"Immortal Master, we are low in Taoist practice and skills, we just earn some money watching the tomb, we dare not be involved in any other evil deeds."
"Yes, Immortal Master, though we are Taoists, we do have some faith in Buddhist teachings, not to mention killing, even mountain foxes and wolves, we don’t kill,
every day, if we indulge, we only buy some meat or wine from hunters, farmers, or fishermen in the mountains, we dare not commit any evil deeds."
Zhou Xuan held Old Cat by the shoulders and calmly said: "No one accuses you of misdeeds, for watching the mountain for years, let me ask, how did these coffins arrive?"
"They were... they were sent up from the foot of the mountain."
"How often are they sent?" Zhou Xuan asked again.
"Maybe... every three to four months, a coffin is sent up."
"Three to four months..." Zhou Xuan mused over these words, finding they matched the habits of the Hundred-eyed Child.
The Hundred-eyed Child needs to eat a Mola Fruit periodically, else it will die.
The interval of three to four months is the interval at which the Hundred-eyed Child eats the Mola Fruit.
Zhou Xuan nodded, asking: "And when was the most recent coffin sent?"
"Three months ago?" Old Cat said.
"No, Brother Cat, it was five months ago." Another Tomb Guardian said.
Old Cat turned and snapped: "Nonsense, it was three months."
"Time passes unknowingly in the mountains, Brother Cat, you’ve lost track of time, it was five months ago, five months ago, there was a lantern festival in Ping Shui Prefecture, I went to see it, I remember the date."
"Then... it was five months ago." Old Cat didn’t argue further, honestly telling Zhou Xuan.
"Five months..."
Zhou Xuan nodded: "No wonder the Hundred-eyed Child went mad with hunger—five months without a Mola Fruit."
He muttered to himself, then asked Old Cat: "Let me ask you, after a coffin is brought up, did anything strange occur?"
"There... doesn’t seem to be." Old Cat replied.
The other two chimed in agreement, saying: "Indeed, nothing happened."
"Really nothing?" Zhou Xuan asked again.
"Really nothing... is there?" Old Cat turned, questioning his companions.
One companion thought for a moment and said: "Immortal Master, we cannot lie to you... every time a coffin is brought up, there’s a big feast on the mountain, with good wine and meat, we’re greedy and always end up drunk, dazed, and not knowing if anything strange happened."
"Even if something did happen, we wouldn’t know."
Once Old Cat and the others finished speaking, they were even more afraid, fearing Zhou Xuan might not be satisfied and would cut them down mercilessly.
"If that’s the case, the three of you listen well, I am about to enter the stream of your fates. Do not resist, I need to use your eyes to see what strange occurrences happen on this mountain."
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